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arXiv:2305.02002 · Physical Review A

Fundamental limits on quantum cloning from the no-signaling principle

Yanglin Hu, Marco Tomamichel

Published Feb 16, 2024• 5 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

The no-cloning theorem is a cornerstone of quantum cryptography. Here we generalize and rederive in a unified framework various upper bounds on the maximum achievable fidelity of probabilistic and deterministic cloning machines. Building on ideas by Gisin [Phys. Lett. A 242, 1 (1998)], our result follows from the fact that remote state preparation is possible and the no-signaling principle holds. We apply our general theorem to several subsets of states that are of interest in quantum cryptography.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.109.022221

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No-cloning theorem is fundamental for quantum mechanics and for quantum information science that states an unknown quantum state cannot be cloned perfectly. However, we can try to clone a quantum state approximately with the optimal fidelity, or instead, we can try to clone it perfectly with the largest probability. Thus various quantum cloning machines have been designed for different quantum information protocols. Specifically, quantum cloning machines can be designed to analyze the security of quantum key distribution protocols such as BB84 protocol, six-state protocol, B92 protocol and their generalizations. Some well-known quantum cloning machines include universal quantum cloning machine, phase-covariant cloning machine, the asymmetric quantum cloning machine and the probabilistic quantum cloning machine etc. In the past years, much progress has been made in studying quantum cloning machines and their applications and implementations, both theoretically and experimentally. In this review, we will give a complete description of those important developments about quantum cloning and some related topics. On the other hand, this review is self-consistent, and in particular, we try to present some detailed formulations so that further study can be taken based on those results.

•Jan 1, 2013•63 citations
The no-cloning theorem is a cornerstone of quantum cryptography. Here we generalize and rederive in a unified framework various upper bounds on the maximum achievable fidelity of probabilistic and deterministic cloning machines. Building on ideas by Gisin [Phys. Lett. A 242, 1 (1998)], our result follows from the fact that remote state preparation is possible and the no-signaling principle holds. We apply our general theorem to several subsets of states that are of interest in quantum cryptography.
The impossibility of superluminal communication is a fundamental principle of physics. Here we show that this principle underpins the performance of several fundamental tasks in quantum information processing and quantum metrology. In particular, we derive tight no-signaling bounds for probabilistic cloning and super-replication that coincide with the corresponding optimal achievable fidelities and rates known. In the context of quantum metrology, we derive the Heisenberg limit from the no-signaling principle for certain scenarios including reference frame alignment and maximum likelihood state estimation. We elaborate on the equivalence of assymptotic phase-covariant cloning and phase estimation for different figures of merit.
Attempts at cloning a quantum system result in the introduction of imperfections in the state of the copies. This is a consequence of the no-cloning theorem, which is a fundamental law of quantum physics and the backbone of security for quantum communications. Although perfect copies are prohibited, a quantum state may be copied with maximal accuracy via various optimal cloning schemes. Optimal quantum cloning, which lies at the border of the physical limit imposed by the no-signaling theorem and the Heisenberg uncertainty principle, has been experimentally realized for low-dimensional photonic states. However, an increase in the dimensionality of quantum systems is greatly beneficial to quantum computation and communication protocols. Nonetheless, no experimental demonstration of optimal cloning machines has hitherto been shown for high-dimensional quantum systems. We perform optimal cloning of high-dimensional photonic states by means of the symmetrization method. We show the universality of our technique by conducting cloning of numerous arbitrary input states and fully characterize our cloning machine by performing quantum state tomography on cloned photons. In addition, a cloning attack on a Bennett and Brassard (BB84) quantum key distribution protocol is experimentally demonstrated to reveal the robustness of high-dimensional states in quantum cryptography.
Quantum theory fundamentally forbids the perfect copying of an arbitrary unknown quantum state, according to a principle known as the no-cloning theorem. Nevertheless, it is possible to construct a deterministic quantum map that produces multiple approximate copies of an unknown quantum state. This task is referred to as universal quantum cloning, further facilitating numerous quantum technologies such as quantum cryptography and quantum communication. In this work, we theoretically verify that the universal quantum cloning cannot be realized within a noncontextual theory, highlighting its intrinsically nonclassical nature. Our verification first {focuses on revealing that} 1→21\rightarrow21→2 cloning scenario {is fully contextual}, and {further covers general examples to observe the contextual behavior of} N→MN\rightarrow MN→M scenario. We believe that our results regarding quantum cloning serve a key role for understanding both quantum foundation and application.
Attempts at cloning a quantum system result in the introduction of imperfections in the state of the copies. This is a consequence of the no-cloning theorem, which is a fundamental law of quantum physics and the backbone of security for quantum communications. Although such perfect copies are prohibited, a quantum state may be copied with maximal accuracy via various optimal cloning schemes. Optimal quantum cloning, which lies at the border of the physical limit imposed by the no-signalling theorem and the Heisenberg uncertainty principle, has been experimentally realized for low dimensional photonic states. However, an increase in the dimensionality of quantum systems is greatly beneficial to quantum computation and communication protocols. Nonetheless, no experimental demonstration of optimal cloning machines has hitherto been shown for high-dimensional quantum systems. Here, we perform optimal cloning of high-dimensional photonic states by means of the symmetrization method. We show the universality of our technique by conducting cloning of numerous arbitrary input states, and fully characterize our cloning machine by performing quantum state tomography on \emph{cloned} photons. In addition, a cloning attack on a Bennett and Brassard (BB84) quantum key distribution protocol is experimentally demonstrated in order to reveal the robustness of high-dimensional states in quantum cryptography.
No-cloning theorem is fundamental for quantum mechanics and for quantum information science that states an unknown quantum state cannot be cloned perfectly. However, we can try to clone a quantum state approximately with the optimal fidelity, or instead, we can try to clone it perfectly with the largest probability. Thus various quantum cloning machines have been designed for different quantum information protocols. Specifically, quantum cloning machines can be designed to analyze the security of quantum key distribution protocols such as BB84 protocol, six-state protocol, B92 protocol and their generalizations. Some well-known quantum cloning machines include universal quantum cloning machine, phase-covariant cloning machine, the asymmetric quantum cloning machine and the probabilistic quantum cloning machine etc. In the past years, much progress has been made in studying quantum cloning machines and their applications and implementations, both theoretically and experimentally. In this review, we will give a complete description of those important developments about quantum cloning and some related topics. On the other hand, this review is self-consistent, and in particular, we try to present some detailed formulations so that further study can be taken based on those results.